Everything Else
by paigee.yovkoff
Summary: "I love you so much right now, you know that?" "Well I would imagine so with the fact you just nearly barreled me over." - AU Season 4. McCollins throughout. Sequel to SIX MONTHS.
1. Chapter 1

**Everything Else.  
Words: **1102**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x02**  
AU 4x02  
Established Andy/Nick.  
READ A/N AT THE END!**

…

When she opens the front door to her apartment building, he's leaning on his truck that's parked on the curb. There isn't a part of her that is remotely surprised. Of _course _he was there, right on 6 o'clock, not even bothered that he was waking up that early to give her a lift that she hadn't asked for. It was just so _Nick_.

"So I just got a call from Traci Nash," he tells her, looking up from his sneakers, "Telling me that if you were late to hers by even a second this morning, she would have me on desk duty for the next three weeks. At the time I may have been a little bit too terrified of her to bother questioning how she has that power, but the last time I questioned whether or not a woman could do something I was getting the silent treatment."

Andy stops just in front of him, shaking her head but still not surprised.

"Ready to go back today?"  
"I've been looking forward to this day for six months Nick," she reminds him.

He shrugs, and Andy is holding the strap of her bag close to her while lifting a hand to press gingerly on his eye. She chuckles when he winces under her touch, knowing that he wouldn't let her know just how much more it hurt.

"How's your eye?"  
"Not bad, it's healed mostly."  
"Oh yeah," Andy smirks, turning his face slightly to get a better look at it, "No scar, that's too bad."  
"Hm?"  
"Would've made you actually look like a man."

Her finger trails down from the bruise so that she's playing with the hem of his shirt.

"So Traci called _you_?"  
"Yep. I guess she'll be grilling you for details if she hasn't already."  
"I've spent the last week either debriefing with Narcotics, with the shrink for mandatory psych evaluations or sleeping," she says, leaning up and kissing him briefly before heading for the passenger side door, "I've spoken to you twice during that time, and Traci once. Hell, even my Dad has only gotten a _text message_ from me."  
"You should take up your Dad's offer for dinner tomorrow night," Nick tells her casually from over the car.  
Andy looks up at him, eyes narrow, "I _did _tell you about that, right?"

He laughs and gets in the car, the female officer slowly going over the two conversations they'd had in the last week and trying to pick out exactly when she told him about her Dad offering to make them both dinner.

…

"Okay! Okay! Alright! You win!" Traci Nash laughs from behind her as they come to a stop at a park bench, "You're ready to get back on the streets."  
"Undercover wasn't all watching cheesy movies and hanging out at the bar. Nick and I ran 5k every other morning."  
"You're a keener!"  
"Shut up."

Andy leans over, beginning to retie her shoelaces. She can feel Traci hovering behind her and glances over her shoulder.

"So. You and Nick, huh?"  
"What about it?" she asks, turning back to her shoe.  
"Gonna tell me how _that_ happened? I'm not gonna have to be pulling Gail off of you any time in the future?"  
"Gail and Nick were trying to fix things before everything that happened," Andy tells her, standing up straight, "But Gail couldn't do it anymore. They were over before anything happened, I wouldn't do that to Gail."  
Traci nods, slowly processing what she's said, "I believe you. Just, uh, _when _did you and G.I. Joe start, yanno, _doing the horizontal tango_?"

Resting her hands on her hips, she's trying to even her breathing again while she thinks it over.

"We'd been UC for just over 3 months. It was just a _thing_, you know? We were just letting go of stress. But Blackstone gave us a weekend, and we had two options. Come back and then leave everyone again, or go biking in Niagara," Andy explains cocking her head to the side, "We got lost on a trail and after we got back to the cabin we actually _talked_. We've got a no secrets policy and it seems to be working just fine since then."  
"As in Nick actually has _secrets_," the detective laughs.  
"I don't know Trace. But I do know its working. None of my last relationships lasted, and they both had one thing in common, neither of us were 100% open with each other. May not have been the reason they failed, but still something that was a problem."

Traci's smiling at her, and Andy decides that she's either said something right or she has something on her face.

"What?"  
"That's really good Andy, I'm proud of you," she smiles, "Which means you'll be okay with Sam's new girlfriend running up behind us right now?"  
"Absolutely," Andy laughs in reply, turning around to greet the new officer with a smile.

She stands there for a few moments, watching as Traci and Marlo Cruz keep up small talk, and when the woman turns to face her, she isn't finding herself forcing the smile on her face.

"McNally right?"  
"Yeah."  
Marlo offers her hand while saying, "Pleasure to meet you, Marlo Cruz. Didn't get a real chance to meet last week."  
"Yeah real pleasure," Andy says, shaking her hand.  
"Heard a lot about you. So, uh, got another 10k to get in before shift," Marlo tells them, gesturing in the direction she's heading, "See you guys there."

Andy waves after her while her best friend turns to look at her with wide eyes. Traci's mumbling under her breath about the distance she'd just said and Andy is trying to contain a laugh.

"Come on Traci, there's coffee waiting for me in your kitchen and we have to be at work in an hour."

Her best friend is shaking her head, but as Andy starts to jog back to the car she knows that Traci is following behind her.

…

_And here we are! Another McCollins story and another day into the hiatus._

_Like I mentioned in the disclaimer. If the characters say something that you've heard before. It's because you have heard it before. From the episode mentioned._

_Anyhoo, I figure this is how it's going to go._

_Two chapters per episode. One from the beginning, one from the end. That's depending on the episode. And I'll focus on the fluffy stuff. Steer away from the angst. So it may actually finish with 4x09 and 4x10. I have something planned for 4x08, that'll recognize that episode as still being a McCollin's milestone sort of thing, but after that I don't really want to dive into all the other things that happened. It'll throw off the groove of the story and I rather like the character development that happened pre-Sam being shot. So I don't really want to dive into the saga of events that triggered __that__._

_But beside that. Two chapters an episode, depending on how much of the episode I re-write. So if I stop at 4x10, there should be close to 20 chapters! What do you say guys? A longer than 5 chapter McCollins story? Oh how will I survive! c;_

_I currently have written up to the end of 4x04, and have begun 4x05. So if all things go according to plan this should be left hanging without an update for a long duration of time. Hopefully, because school holidays only go for so long before exams!_

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Everything Else.  
Words: **873**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x02**  
AU 4x02  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

Heading out into the car park, Andy is almost excited to go home. Even though she's back on shift just over 12 hours later, after wearing the uniform for so long there is a part of her that just wants to ditch the engagement party at the Penny and soak in a warm bath with a glass of red wine. Spotting Nick Collin's truck parked down by the gate has Andy counting the steps until she reaches it.

But she hears Sam Swarek call her name and she realizes that her plans never seem to go the way she wants.

"You going to the Penny?" he asks, catching up with her.  
"Yeah."  
"Need a lift?"  
Over his shoulder she sees Nick heading in their direction and smiles, "I've already got one, thanks though."

Sam nods, looking over his shoulder to see who she was looking at. The officer in question is caught in conversation with an officer from the next shift, and when he catches her eyes he gives her a small smile.

"Just thought I'd let you know," Sam says, looking away from Nick Collins and back at her, "Uh, you might want to visit the range."  
"What?"  
"Yeah. Today on the bridge, you were tea-cupping, it was a little off-"  
"I wasn't off!"  
"It's understandable! You've been away for a while."  
"It wasn't off," Andy argues with a smile.  
"It can happen."  
"I hit the guys tire."  
Gesturing to himself, Sam's eyebrows raise, "You didn't hits his tire."  
"Well it wasn't you who hit his tire. It was me!"  
"No, no, no, I'm not gonna say it was me, but yeah it was me."

Andy's laughing, a hand over her mouth as he's trying his hardest not to join in. When she quiet's down, the brunette officer pushes a loose strand of hair from her face in an attempt to distract herself. She's not willing to let the conversation turn into something she won't be able to get out of, and Andy McNally is almost certain that if she so much as opens her mouth again the topic will turn back around to them.

What they _had been_.

She's glad for Nick Collins' arrival, and the hand he places on her back as he greets her.

"Collins," the detective greets stiffly.  
"Swarek," he nods, "Congratulations on the promotion, it was well deserved."  
"Yeah, well, I hate wearing the uniforms in the summer. The materials itchy and the belts are way high."  
"That they are."

Glancing at the man to her right, Andy smile softly, probably even happier that they're being civil. Which she'll add to a list of achievements for Sam Swarek.

"Guess I'll see you both at the Penny then," Sam finally says after a quiet moment, "Welcome back."  
"Thanks," she answers, looking back at her former TO with another smile.

The corners of his lips twerk slightly into a smile before he's moving around them and heading to his vehicle. Andy feels the hand on her back drift to her arm, trailing down and taking her own hand before tugging her in the direction she'd been heading previously.

"Good first day back?"  
"Could have been worse," she shrugs, "I was originally partnered with Cruz, but Oliver swapped with her. He used the excuse that he didn't want to unleash me onto her yet seeing as I'll be rusty because of the UC."  
Nick Collins chuckles, "Definitely not because she's Swarek's new girlfriend?"  
"Oh it couldn't have been," Andy rolls her eyes, stopping at the front of the truck.

She feels him shrug from beside her before he drops her hand to reach into his pocket for the keys and unlocking the car. Nick reaches for her hand again as he opens the passenger side door for her and helps her climb in.

"You know, the uniform looked good on you today Collins," Andy tells him slowly as she sits in the passenger seat, leaning back and rolling her head so that she's looking at him as he stands at the door, "So much better than the rags you wore at the beginning of our UC."  
"Really? Surprised it still fits _you_, actually," he jokes, cocking his head to the side.  
"Calling me fat?"  
"No, but you did have a weakness for that burrito place across from the apartment, I may have been a little worried."

A chuckle leaves her mouth before she's able to stop it and she's leaning down to press a kiss to the corner of his lips.

"Can't we ditch this?" Nick questions in a murmur, ghosting his lips over hers and moving a hand from the car door to cup her cheek.  
"I was hoping to show off my handsome arm-candy tonight," Andy explains.  
"Another night."  
"Who says you'll survive 'til then?"  
"Experience and luck," he shrugs with a smirk.

Shaking her head she pushes him away and gestures to the seat beside her with a nod of her head. Nick lets out a small sigh, because he knows that neither of them are going home until they make a stop at Frank Best and Noelle William's engagement party, even if it means he has to endure Gail Peck's glares from across the room.

…

_I think I'm up to 4x06. I drowned a little in study stuff after I posted the last chapter._

_That and rewatching episodes that give me feels is stupid, because I never get around to writing, I just cry instead._

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Everything Else.  
Words: **705**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x03**  
AU 4x03  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

"That was fun," Andy smiles, having changed from her paint covered clothes into one of his old sweatshirts and a pair of jeans.

He has to shake his head to hide his smile, trying not to encourage her. But sights like this one hadn't gotten old, despite it almost being the only thing he saw for six months straight.

"I think we should totally do that again," she continues, smile widening, "I had a few more strategies up my sleeve that I wanted to try out, but all of the others were just too good and we won."  
"You're so modest McNally."  
"Oh, absolutely."

Nick stops in front of her, pulling the door open to her right and gesturing for her to get in.

"I want pancakes," she tells him casually, ducking under his arm and gripping the door for leverage.  
"Before we showed up you wanted omelets, now you want pancakes," Nick reminds her.  
Andy shrugs, "The polka-dots on the camel, they looked like pancakes."  
"Sweetheart, it was a deformed giraffe."

The woman in front of him rolls her eyes, as she gets herself situated in the passenger side seat.

"A polka-dotted camel," Andy presses, "And if you tell me it's not, I won't share my bacon with you."

…

Traci has been asking the same question over and over again for the last ten minutes, and Andy knows she should just humor her and answer it. But the truth was, Andy didn't know just how serious she and Nick were. They hadn't actually talked about it. And she was 100% okay with that.

"Andy, _please_?"  
"I don't know what to tell you Traci," she shrugs, "We haven't really gone and decided to move in together or anything. We talk, there are absolutely no secrets allowed and all that stuff."  
"Don't give me that bullshit again. I know that was his sweatshirt after paintball."  
"I stole a jumper, so what?"  
Traci groans, "That's serious! Stealing his jumpers, you obviously have spent more than one night at his place. I bet you even have a drawer!"

As they turned the corner into the division's main hallway, Andy thought about it. She wouldn't tell Traci that she was right, but she didn't have one drawer. Andy McNally had migrated at least half of her wardrobe into his, and he'd done the same at her apartment. She had just become so used to him being around that they spent just about every night together, and if they didn't spend the night together it was because they were on night rotations and partnered with another person.

"_Andy_," her best friend whines, "You've got to give me something here!"  
"We lived together for six months, we just got used to having each other around," Andy says, trying to shrug it off as a casual thing.  
"You're hopeless," Traci accused her with a shake of her head, waving goodbye as she went into the break room.

Andy lets out a chuckle, stopping abruptly before she promptly collides with Sam Swarek.

"You look like you worked all weekend," the officer smirks, giving her former Training Officer a once over.  
"Oh I did. What did you do?"  
Andy grins, "Paintball."

There's a flicker of something over Sam Swarek's face that Andy can almost pass of as jealousy as he lets out a breath.

"You win?"  
"Yep, I rocked it."  
"Nothing you like more than a little competition huh?" he asks, eyebrows raised slightly.  
"Oh yeah," Andy laughs, beginning to walk past him, "Because I have a special talent."  
"Yeah, and that is?"  
Turning around, taking carefully measured steps backwards Andy shrugs, "Take a guess Detective."

…

"Hey I got something for you," Nick says, holding a toothpick over his shoulder to Andy.  
She frowns, glancing down at the object before back up at the board, "Why would I need that?"  
"Oh I know you, you're going to need something to chew today."

He looks over his shoulder at her with a smile, her eyebrows are creased as she searches the board for her name and partner. There's a flicker of recognition when she finds it, and Nick isn't surprised to see her roll her eyes at him but still take the tooth pick with thanks.

…

_Third chapter and I've already slipped in posting._

_Despite school holidays, trial exams have kicked my ass and I'm just like – bleh._

_Here we go though!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Thank you!_

_Review?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Everything Else.  
Words: **689**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x02**  
AU 4x03  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

The phone in her pocket vibrates, and Andy is washed over with relief when she sees Nick Collins name on her phone screen.

"_Save me_," is his greeting and the bluntness has a laugh escaping her.  
"I take it that Gail Peck is being ever so delightful today?" she questions with a smirk, looking around to check that her partner for the day is still in sight as she asks questions.  
"_She's trying to make me drink this thing she's doing for a cleanse, I'm scared she's poisoned it._"  
"Well I just visited Wanda."  
There's a crash in the background and Nick lets out a long breath, "_She doing okay?_"  
"Yeah, I hope so after today. The kid across the hall was terrorizing her again, sparked a bit of an episode. Other than that she's fine."  
"_Your partner fine too?_"

Andy's eyes are on Marlo, watching her as she thanked a kid for the information and began walking back towards the squad car.

"_Andy?_"  
"Yeah she's good. Different, kind of. I don't know," Andy shrugs to herself.  
"_I take it this is a conversation best had with alcohol at home?_"

_Home_. The words brings the smile back to Andy's face.

"Yeah. I'll see you back at the station at end of shift, yeah?"  
"_That you will_," he assures her, "_Have fun with Cruz_."  
"Have fun with Peck."

She hears him chuckle and pulls the phone away from her ear as the line goes dead, tucking it securely back into her pocket she looks up just as Marlo stops in front of her.

"Anything?"  
"Nothing," she shrugs, "Let's just keep going down the list McNally, someone will have something for us."

…

He hears through the grapevine of officers in the hall, and it takes almost everything – including Oliver Shaw pushing him back into the chair at the front desk – not to wait by her locker for her to finish with SIU. She finds him though, eventually, while he's standing there with Gail Peck outside the locker rooms while she explains what she's doing with _Ernie_.

He has to resist making a comment about the fact that the Ice Queen has named an urn as he runs a hand up Andy McNally's arm to the collar of her shirt to right it.

"Hey," she murmurs, turning to Gail, "Where is it?"  
Peck frowns, "Where's what?"  
"This cleanse stuff. Come on, hit me with it."  
"You want to try it?" she asks, wide eyes and a hint of a smile on her lips.

The woman beside him shrugs, and he groans when Gail pulls the bottle from her purse.

"Nicholas Collins, you're such a baby," Andy tells him, using one hand to block her nose and the other to tilt the bottle back against her lips.

He watches her swallow the substance, her nose screwed up and her eyes tightly shut as it passes down her throat.

"Peck, that's disgusting."  
"All worth it in the end," the blonde shrugs, a triumphant smile on her face when she accepts the bottle back, only to hold it in Nick Collins' direction.  
With a shake of his head he holds a hand out, palm towards her, "No thank you."  
"You suck."  
"I just don't want the taste of whatever that is to ruin the taste of any food I digest tonight."

There's a chuckle from Andy, and a comment made under her breath about omelets as Gail Peck tucks the bottle back into her bag and begins to bid them farewell.

"We'll see you at the Penny right?" Andy asks, stopping the blonde before she could leave.  
"Uh, yeah," Peck nods slowly, "Yeah later on."  
"Good, see you then Peck."

A frown makes its way onto her face for a flicker of a moment, before she gives a timid wave and turns around, leaving them on their own in the middle of the hall.

"What was that?" Nick questions.  
"My talent," she smiles, grabbing his hand and pulling him along.  
"And that is?"  
"I know when to give up, Nicholas Collins," Andy explains, "And I'm not giving up on the Ice Queen just yet."

…

_So my first year twelve exam is in exactly a week and two days._

_NaNoWriMo starts in four days._

_My year 11 exams start in about two weeks._

_Kill me. Please._

_But here is a chapter, despite the delay, it has been written for a while. So Merry Christmas or whatever – because that will probably be when I regain any of my free time._

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Everything Else.  
Words: **590**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x02**  
AU 4x04  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

"_Jar!_"

Andy's voice carries across the small living space to Nick Collins, and he can only roll his eyes. She'd placed the jar on the console of his truck a week ago, claiming that any un-necessary talk about Afghanistan would incur a fine. She'd stated that he was in Toronto, and that they did not need to know about the food rationing system while on tour oversees.

He drops a couple of silver coins into the jar, and makes his way over to the Esky and starts restacking any of the drinks already placed in their by the woman in question. He would say something to her about being taught how to conserve space in the Army, but he was running out of silver change in his wallet.

"Is this enough?" she asks, handing him the cans stacked in her hands.  
"Uh," he looks between her and the Esky, "Couple more. Just to be safe."  
"Really? Okay, going to need a bigger boat."

Nick smirks, eyes following her as she shrugs before heading back to the fridge. For a moment, he listens to Dov Epstein bicker with Traci Nash, then hears the distinctive sound of wheels rolling over timber flooring. He turns around to see Andy chastising Gail, who stands beside a deep red suitcase topped by a smaller one.

"I've never been camping before, I plead ignorance," the blonde officer claims, "Do we honestly have to do this? Can't we spend the long weekend kicking Dov's ass at Modern Warfare?"  
"_Gail_," Andy groans, causing Nick to chuckle and stand up.  
Moving to the suitcases, Nick shakes his head, "It's okay, I've got loads of room in my rucksack."  
"Oh, the upside to us having someone with us who is used to sleeping in the sand," Gail remarks, rolling her eyes and leaning against the wall.  
"Well, actually it's a lot of small fertile valleys in Afghanistan-"  
Andy pushes past him, "Jar."

The ex-soldier groans, throwing his head back slightly before moving to drop the remainder of his silver change in the jar.

"I'm going to go broke," he tells her when she comes back past him.  
Andy smirks, "But for a good cause army-boy. That money is going to buy our drinks at the Penny. The good stuff."

…

After leaving Parade, Andy makes a bee-line to the coffee station. Beginning to feel as though she's one awkward encounter with an ex-boyfriend away from losing some of her sanity.

"Swap with me," Nick's voice in her ear asks.  
"Oh no," she shakes her head, pulling the jug from the coffee maker, "I am not doing that with you today. I'd much rather work with Peck."  
"Well Peck is less likely to talk your ear off."  
"It's just routine traffic stops to help out the detectives, you probably won't even talk to each other," Andy shrugs, filling a foam cup and handing it to him.  
"Yeah, hopefully."

Andy nudges him in the stomach with her elbow, and smirks as he feigns injury. Adding cream to the coffee in front of her, she carefully presses a lid down onto it before she turns around to face him.

"I'll see you at the end of shift, yeah?"  
Nick takes a sip from the coffee in his hand and the corners of his lips turn up into a small smile, "Yeah you will McNally."

Gail Peck calls out to her, and Andy smiles at him before leaving. Routine traffic stops, it would be simple, honestly. She didn't understand what he was whining about.

…

_So I have officially finished Sociology and English Literature forever. OMG. I'M SO FREAKING HAPPY._

_And I only have one more math exam and my Psychology exam to go before I've officialy finished year eleven. And then on the 25__th__, I officially start my course work for my final year of high school education. Gosh, it's so exciting and so scary all at once. And I'm unsure if my tummy feels funny because I'm nervous, or because I ate cheese today. Eh, who knows._

_Anyway. I'm officially up to writing the second chapter for 4x09, which is great, because it means that when everything is settled down I can just post regularly without having to freak out about being behind in writing – like NaNoWriMo. Yeah. I just gave up again because November is the shittest month ever. Maybe I'll do it in like, April or something. Nothing happens in April._

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Everything Else.  
Words: **632**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x04**  
AU 4x04  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

When he arrives, Nick finds her sitting on the stairs nursing a beer. He stops to get his own before making his way to her without another thought. She's quiet when he sits down, too quiet. Quiet and Andrea McNally never did go well together, he'd realized that very early on in their time together UC.

"So this isn't camping," he murmurs, uncapping the beer and nudging her shoulder with his.  
"No it's not," Andy smiles, "I guess all you're military training on how to pack light went to waste on this one."  
"Well this is still good."  
"This is better."

Glancing across at her, he finds her scanning her eyes over their small gathering, stopping for a moment of Chris Diaz and Denise.

"I heard about today," Nick says, turning to face her, "With that boy. Gail said you were staying behind at the hospital to make sure he gets on okay."  
Andy nods slowly, tipping her head back and taking a swig from the sweating bottle in her hands, "He's a good kid. Just wanted to make sure he knew that, I guess."  
"Well you did good, Andy McNally. Did the division proud."

There's a flicker of a smile on her lips again, and Nick lets out a long breath as he thinks over his next words. He watches her, carefully moving to take the bottle from her hands and place it on the step behind her.

"Are you honestly okay Andy?" the ex-soldier questions, "It's been a tough week and a bit, and we never talked about what happened with Wanda, and after today I think you need to let it all out."  
"Marlo was just following protocol and got to the end solution before I did," Andy tells him, repeating the same thing she'd said to countless other people after the incident.  
"But it was Wanda. I know you, you invested yourself and your time in that woman, in making sure she was okay."  
She shrugs, "I don't know what to say Nick. What am I supposed to tell you that I haven't told the department shrink or SIU?"  
"What you're really feeling right now," Nick prompts, "That's always a good place to start."

He knows that she'll avoid the question, it's her classic style of dealing with these situations. And he'll let her, for a moment. But it will come up again, because Nick Collins understood that the bucket of "Andy-McNally-avoidance" would soon spill over. It was only a matter of time.

"I feel fine," she finally says, "After that day, the only real thing that was eating at me, after talking to Marlo in the locker rooms and going to see that damned shrink, was some stupid comment made by Traci that morning."  
"Which was?"  
"She was trying to gauge just how serious we were."  
He watches her shrug again, trying to shake it off as just a casual question, "And what did you say to that?"  
"We've gotten used to each other being around. Six months living together can do that to you. And we talk, you know, the no-secrets policy? Because the truth is that I honestly couldn't care how serious we are," Andy explains, "I'm with you, right? We're here, we made it back home, we're _together_. That's all that matters, right?"

It catches him off-guard. Andy McNally, one of the strongest, capable women he'd ever met, unsure of where she stood in a person's life.

"If it makes any difference," Nick murmurs, resting a hand on her arm to turn her towards him, "I am very serious about you, Andrea McNally."

She smiles, it's small and shy and he has to restrain from kissing the indecisiveness of her face. She'd understand just how serious he meant, one day. Just not right then.

…

_So I have officially finished year 11. I have two days off, two days of work, then I start the year 12 curriculum on Monday. That weird nervous feeling is still in my tummy, but like the other day I did eat cheese. So yeah. Maybe not._

_Still on 4x09, I've spent all my time studying for that stupid Psych exam – didn't ace it, but definitely didn't fail. In Psych that is all I can hope for really – but in between crying over Agents of SHIELD and cleaning, I'll be working on it tonight and tomorrow. Maybe I'll even start a proper plan for 4x11/12, see if I can do that for realz._

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Everything Else.  
Words: **543**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x05**  
AU 4x05  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

When Andy wakes, there's a smell wafting through Nick Collins' apartment that she'd become accustomed to over the last seven or so months. A tinge of coffee, cooking eggs and crispy bacon. The smells alone were enough to make her mouth water and stomach growl ever so slightly. She rolls over and blindly reaches for her phone on the left bedside table, knocking her watch and an empty plastic cup off in the process. Lifting it to be in her line of vision, she notes the time as seven-am and sees that her mother texted her sometime last night to check in on how she'd been doing.

Sitting up, Andy pulls her knees up to her chest, the blankets coming with them and being tucked up against her collarbone, and dials her mother's number. As the call connects, the bedroom door is nudged open, and Nick walks in balancing a plate in one hand and his grip on two mugs of coffee at the same time.

"_Andy, morning sweetheart_," Claire's voices greets her.  
"Hey, got your message. Did you want to do something this weekend?" she asks, smiling up at her partner as he places the two mugs on the bedside table and sits down on the bed beside her.  
"_If I can steal you away from your new boy-toy that would be great_."  
Rolling her eyes, Andy reaches across to take a piece of bacon off the plate on Nick's lap, "Yes you can, and honestly Claire, really?"  
"_Oh don't chastise your mother Andrea,_" the woman orders, a hint of a laugh following her statement, "_I'll have to call you about it later, I'm being called away by the bosses. Have a good shift sweetie_."  
"Okay, I'll talk to you then."

The phone disconnects as Andy takes a bite of the bacon between her fingers. Nick uses his free hand to pluck the phone from her hand and toss it on the bed, leaning over to kiss her briefly.

"Good morning," he murmurs, pulling away enough to pass her the plate and take one of the mugs off the bedside table.  
"Hey," she smiles, watching him take a sip, "You're up early."  
Nick shrugs, "Someone hogged all the blankets last night."  
"No I didn't."  
"And how would you know Officer McNally?" he questions, smirking at the appalled look on her face at the suggestion that she would do that.

Shaking her head, Andy finishes the bacon in her hand before grabbing another piece and taking a bite.

"There's omelets in the kitchen as well," he tells her, stealing a piece from the plate for himself, "I knew we wouldn't have time so I wrapped them for later."  
"Smart thinker, must be from all those years in the army."  
"Hm, maybe."

Nick shrugs, taking a bite from the bacon and lying back on the bed. Tilting her head to the side, Andy gives him a once over, placing the plate on the bedside table and moving so that she was leaning over him.

"Give me ten minutes in the bathroom and we should be good to go," she says, dipping down to press a kiss to his cheek before pushing herself off the bed, "You damn well better not forget those omelets, soldier-boy."

…

_I need fluffy McCollins because I'm dying from school work._

_Officially finished my first two weeks of year 12 curriculum last Thursday and I'm drowning in homework, plus I'm 5 hours into a 37 hour work week. I'm crying, but I'm also so happy because money for more books – not that I need it. There's no room on my bookshelves. It's so sad._

_Oh. And the Hiatus has officially begun killing me. Ugh._

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes belong to me._

_Review?_


	8. Chapter 8

**Everything Else.  
Words: **508**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x05**  
AU 4x05  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

Waiting for Sam Swarek to return from his meeting with the CI, Nick Collins pulls his phone from his pocket and stares at the screen. He contemplates calling Andy, but they're most likely going through the decontamination process by now, and she wouldn't want to be moving around too much.

Rolling his head to either side, working kinks out of his neck, Nick sighs before unlocking his phone and creating a new text message.

_'__Holding up okay? Haven't killed Cruz or any of the HAZMAT team have you?'_

When it sends, he rests his head back against the chair, eyes moving to where Swarek stands with another man. He watches, the two of them standing a foot apart and talking casually, and a few moments later his phone vibrates against his hand.

_'__Yeah, I'm good. Everyone's in one piece. I'll see you after the scrub down x.'_

He lets out a breath that he didn't know he was holding, tucking his phone away and looking back over in the detective's direction to watch him make his way back over to the car.

"So you get a name?" he asks, leaning over to talk through the window.  
"Nope," the detective replies, opening the car door and situating himself in the drivers side seat, "I got his name, description and the bar where he works."

…

When Andy McNally enters the bullpen with Marlo Cruz, he can no longer contain any trace of a smile from growing on his face. Out of the uniform and into sweats and a TPD shirt, he's assuring himself that the strange feeling flooding him is most definitely relief. He watches her stop at Traci, and hears her say that Marlo's not as bad as previously thought, before stepping in his direction.

"Hi," she smiles, tongue between teeth as she makes a move to embrace him.  
He stops her, palms out in her direction, "Uh, how do I know you're not infected?"  
"I could spit in your face, see if you die?" Andy suggests with a shrug.

Pretending to contemplate it for a second, he shrugs and makes an indifferent sound before stepping forward and pulling her into his arms.

"You alright?" he asks as they pull away, keeping a hand on her shoulder for a moment.  
"Yeah."  
"Feeling okay?"  
"Yeah, sure."  
"Little shaky?" Nick questions, holding his hands up in front of her.  
"Been crazy," Andy looks down at her hands, "Uh, no."  
"No?'

Nick uses her distracted state to quickly move and slap both hands down on hers, causing her to groan and step further back from him. Andy laughs, looking down to see if the top of her hands are turning red and he grabs them in his.

Pulling her back so she's standing toe-to-toe with him, he smiles, "Really glad you're okay, McNally."

There's a small smile on her face, and she leans up, eyes closed, to kiss him, intertwining their fingers between them.

"Penny?" he asks against her lips, looking down at her.  
"Home please, there's omelets waiting for us."

…

_I was meant to update a few weeks ago, considering the fact that I do have the next six chapters written. So in that case I'm going to double update, simply because they're burning a hole in my pocket (computer? HDD? Eh. I dunno.)_

_That and I'm absolutely confused as to where to go from where I've written. I had a plan. I did. But, uh, I lost it. I think. Maybe I never actually wrote it down. But there was a plan!_

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	9. Chapter 9

**Everything Else.  
Words: **514**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x06**  
AU 4x06  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

When he gets back into the squad car, Andy moans at the smell of coffee wafting in with him. They'd slept in, barely making it in time to Parade, and being called in by Frank had made them later for getting out on patrol. This being said, no coffee had been consumed since about midday the day before, and that knowledge made Andy feel caffeine deprived.

"So have you figured out what the deal with the cheese-puffs is?" Andy asks taking a sip from the warm cup in her hands.  
"The mac-and-cheese thing or just cheese-puffs in general?"  
"In general."  
Nick shrugs, placing his own coffee in the middle console before reaching back for his seatbelt, "They're her comfort food or something. She's always loved them, a bit obsessed actually."  
"Maybe she's sorry?" she suggests, "Feels bad for being a bit of a dick?"

The officer beside her chuckles, shaking his head as she takes another sip from the take-away cup. They're silent, and Andy finds herself cocking her head to the side and frowning.

"You okay?"  
"Yeah, it's just weird that Chris left like that," she shrugs.  
"I always kinda liked Diaz," Nick tells her.  
Andy turns to him, eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "Didn't you two have a huge feud over Gail last year?"  
"Which I won, thus, I always liked Diaz."  
"Oh well, congratulations, what a prize," Andy scoffs, taking another sip.

Nick goes quiet, and she hears him turn in her direction. She can almost feel some deformed version of smugness radiating off of him, and she knew her reaction had just gotten her thrown in the deep-end.

"Jealous are we Andy?" he asks playfully, "You just seem a little tense."  
"Oh, do I? Well I'll have you know that I've never felt better," Andy smiles, looking at him from the corner of her eye.  
"Yeah?"  
"Seriously, I dunno, I just feel happy, calm even," Andy stops, pointing out the windscreen suddenly, "Man on hood! Look man on hood!"

…

Before she leaves, she finds him and pulls him into a spare interview room. She doesn't say anything, just takes a shuddering breath in, and keeps a hold firmly on his elbows, and Nick lets her stand like this until it's too much to bare. Moving closer to her, he envelopes her waist with his arms and pulls her tightly against him.

He understands that despite not showing it, the case was effecting her just as much as it was effecting Sam Swarek, and she could only take so much before she could break.

"You're okay," he murmurs, lips close to her ear as she wounds her arms around him, "You're going to be okay. Gail is okay, you are okay, Swarek is okay."  
"He didn't deserve it," she whispers, grip tightening on him for just a moment.  
"Traci is okay," he continues, trying to ignore the fragile voice leaving her, "You are okay, Gail is okay, Swarek is okay, Traci is okay."

She nods against him, and he holds her there, not pulling away until her shaky breathing stops.

…

_So there won't be another chapter for this episode, but it will be addressed later in another chapter. Maybe next chapter, but I'm not too sure. It's just that this episode was really hard to deal with man. Jerry was my favourite and I cried for like three weeks after he died, I was so freaking emotionally invested in him. Like you have no idea._

_That, and I'm trying to find a way to explain Nick being at the interview. Or if we should just forget that all together. Maybe. I don't know._

_And now to return to listening to Taylor Swift and staring at a half-written word-document because I'm stuck. Ugh. Maybe I'll do homework, because yanno. That's important._

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	10. Chapter 10

**Everything Else.  
Words: **530**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x07**  
AU 4x07  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

Andy wakes to something poking her cheek, small pauses in between each press against her skin. Blinking her eyes, she fights exhaustion and slowly opens them. Nick Collins' face is barely inches away from hers, and a large grin is etched on it with crinkled eyes and shiny teeth. His hair is wet, and she groans knowing that she slept through their morning jog.

"I want smoothies, so we're going to get smoothies," he tells her simply.  
"You're like a three year old."  
"And you slept in, so if you hurry we may get to parade on time."

The female officer rolls her eyes and pushes him away, rolling onto her back she breathes in deeply through her nose.

"Nose not blocked anymore?" Nick asks, sitting up and attempting to pull her up also.  
"Nope, thank god. That nasally voice thing never worked for me."

Letting him pull her up, Andy sits against the wall behind her and closes her eyes again. The wall behind her is cool and it's pleasant in contrast to how warm she still feels. Nick has picked up her left hand between both of his, keeping it firmly pressed between them and the extended fingertips against his lips.

"This shift is going to be shit," she murmurs, rolling her head to the side and opening her eyes to look at him.  
He frowns, lips moving against her fingers, "Why's that?"  
"I don't know, it's just a gut feeling. Friday the thirteenth? It's going to be crap."  
"So very optimistic you are Officer McNally," Nick laughs, "so _very _optimistic."

With a shrug, Andy smiles, leaning across the bed as she pulls her hand away from his to move it up to his face. Hands cupping his face, she kisses him, and it takes willpower to keep it from deepening.

"Smoothies," Nick whispers against her lips, and she's pushing him away as she lazily attempts to keep laughter in.

…

"Do you honestly believe in all this Friday the thirteenth stuff?"

Andy drops the strand of hair from between her fingers and turns to her partner. He doesn't glance at her, just checks the reer-view mirror and keeps his eyes front and center.

"What do you mean?"  
"You know, like high-rise buildings never have a 13th floor, or your house is hardest to sell if it's the 13th house on the street?"  
"Maybe."  
Nick glances at her, "Seriously?"  
"Yeah, I mean, there's something out there right?"

He laughs, shaking his head as he checks the reer-view mirror again before flicking the indicator on.

"What's so bad about believing in it?"  
"But saying that something is out there is referring to aliens," Nick explains, bring the squad car slowly to a stop at the intersection.  
"And supernatural beings, so the spooky shit that relates to Friday the 13th."  
"Aliens don't go with Friday the 13th. They're two completely different aspects of spooky."  
"Are we really going to debate this?" Andy sighs.  
"No," he chuckles, "But you're wrong, just for future reference."

She rolls her eyes, flipping a rude gesture in his direction with her free hand while the other returns to twirling the strand of hair.

"Charming McNally, charming."

…

_First day of year 12 for the new school year done. Now to go celebrate by drowning in homework. Why._

_Sorry for the delay, non-stop all holidays and barely enough time to breathe. Maybe it'll become a regular schedule, maybe. Hopefully._

_Just a note. Nobody is forcing anybody to read this, instead of slamming the characters (Cough. Andy. Cough) for things they did in the show, understand that I don't control that and I only write based on what's happened. If it's not your thing, eh, so what? I'm sure there's another fic out there that could cater to your opinion on events of the show. But it probs ain't this one._

_Anyway._

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	11. Chapter 11

**Everything Else.  
Words: **777**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x07**  
AU 4x07  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

Andy holds the flashlight in front of her, scanning the hallway quickly before entering. Realizing that she can't hear her partner's footsteps behind her, she stops, turning to face him.

"What, you scared?" she teases, tongue between her teeth.  
"No," Nick says, looking around slowly, "I'm just assessing the situation."  
"What a baby."

When she starts walking again, his footsteps follow her at a much slower pace, making her want to roll her eyes and chastise him for being the big army solder afraid of the dark. The same man who not even two hours earlier told her that believing in aliens was foolish.

As they head further into the building, the sound of a tap leaking becoming louder, she looks back over her shoulder at him, "See, it's not that scary."  
"Of course it's not. It's just an abandoned building," he waits a moment then continues, "But you've got to admit you're creaped out by this place."  
"I'm so not!"

He follows behind her until they reach a door, she stops to survey the lock, and turns when his footsteps stop to her right. Andy meets his eyes and smiles timidly, he smirks in return and reaches in front of her to test the handle. Turning it and pushing the door open as she holds the flash light ahead of her again. Finding that it simply led to another hallway, Andy let out the breath she was holding and stepped in.

"I don't think there's anyone in here," Nick tells her, following her through the short hallway.  
"How do you know? This place is huge, we haven't even been down stairs yet."  
"I don't want to go downstairs."  
Andy smiles, looking behind her at him again, "Why not? You just said you didn't think anyone was in here."  
"Well no, but we don't know what's down there," he reasons, following her through the next entrance, "If we're going down stairs I think we should call for backup."

_Such a baby_, she smiles to herself.

"We're not calling for back up," Andy laughs, turning around to face him, "The building is probably empty alright. You're just afraid of emptiness."  
"No I'm not."  
"Alright, what is your deal? Really?"

Andy stops, turning around to face him again. His face bare of the usual humor that usually was around when on lousy calls, and void of emotion.

"I don't want to talk about it."  
"Fine. I'm afraid of everything," she rolls her eyes and turns around to continue walking again, "I'm afraid of drowning, and I'm afraid of bears. I'm afraid of making a mistake."

By now she's walked through the next door way, and stopped, hearing Nick's footsteps following behind her she turns around and hunches. Walking back to him making ghost noises, she laughs when he flinches as he runs into her.

"You're such a loser," he tells her, stopping short at the top of the stairs so she can go first.  
"Yeah and you're an adult," Andy reminds him, "And I don't know if you got the memo, but you're currently carrying a firearm."

She reaches the bottom of the stairs and stops short, she lets out a dramatic shriek and rolls her eyes when she hears her partner's feet move slightly as though he's jumped.

"Very funny Andy!" he calls down to her, and she's shaking her head and turning around to watch him slowly descend the stairs.  
"Are you done being a baby now, army-boy," she asks him, stopping him at the bottom of the stairs with a hand on his chest.  
"If we die because of whatever weird creepy thing is in this room, I will haunt you forever."  
"If we both die we'll both be ghosts."  
"I'll still haunt you."

Andy sighs and turns around, continuing to make their way through the building.

…

"You know we're never going to live this down?"

Nick shrugs, continuing to walk beside her with the same blank look from their previous call.

"Nick, seriously, what's going on with you?" she asks, stopping and moving to stand in front of him.  
"I really don't want to talk about it."  
While on hand grips her bag tightly, the other lifts to run up his arm, "Nick, seriously."  
"Honestly?"  
"Yes."  
"Listen Andy, I-"

Andy sharply moves her head forward, the same ghost noise from before leaving her mouth. He jumps, eyes wide, and the image has her laughing. She hears him chuckle before his arm wraps around her shoulders and brings her close to his body, his free hand messing up her hair as they continue walking.

"You're gonna pay for that McNally."  
"Oh you're such a baby."

…

_Eh. Some of them are fab, then there are others. Oh well!_

_I do apologize for how long it seems to be taking for this story to hit the end. Year 12 is kicking my ass – seriously. I've missed the equivalent of three days and I'm so far behind it's disgusting – and all this other stuff. But I won't bore you with that._

_I do however, have to set aside time tonight to write something because guess what? Tomorrow is the four year anniversary of my account on FanFiction. Eeek! 'Scuse me while I go celebrate the longest relationship I've ever had._

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	12. Chapter 12

**Everything Else.  
Words: **322**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x08**  
AU 4x08  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

The phone on the table buzzes, bringing her attention away from the place cards and a small smile to her face. Traci looks up as well, noticing Nick's name and picture on the screen and shakes her head.

"What?"  
"Go on, assure lover boy you're not dead," Traci tells her, a smirk on her face.  
"He's not my keeper."  
"Go answer the damn phone McNally."

Rolling her eyes Andy stands up, capping her calligraphy pen and picking her phone up from the table. Waiting until she was out of listening distance to answer the phone.

"_Are you dead yet?_" he voice greats her, a smile forming on her face at the joke.  
"I'm not that much of a tomb-boy, I can do this girly stuff too Collins."  
"_No doubt you can, but you've got to be running on fumes by now. Bring the place-cards home and go to sleep. We can do them over breakfast tomorrow._"  
Andy laughs, "You would do place cards with me. Can you even write in cursive?"  
"_Yes._"  
"Lies."  
"_Yeah it is, I'm just lonely_."

She shakes her head slightly, temptation to leave right away battling with her sense of doing something to help.

"Give me an hour?"  
"_Pushing it McNally_."  
"I'll leave in an hour, okay?"  
She hears him sigh dramatically, "_I'll try to live for one more hour._"  
"Good."  
"_Good_."

Andy goes to say goodbye, but the other words are on the tip of her tongue. They're not ready for it yet, she'll keep telling herself that. They're in a good place, there's no need to say it. They're in a good place.

"_One hour McNally_."  
"One hour," she repeats, pulling the phone away from her ear and hanging up.

Traci is calling her back over, claiming she refuses to pick up the slack while she's flirting with G.I. Joe, and Andy forgets about her almost slip up. They weren't ready for it yet. Not today.

…

_Because this one is so short, I'll post the next one right after it, and then we're most definitely on the homestretch my friends! I'll try to post these last few chapters on some sort of schedule. It's school holidays and despite the heavy amount of homework and working almost 30 hours next week, I somehow find time to play Sims 4 so I can find time to post!_

_Motivation!_

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	13. Chapter 13

**Everything Else.  
Words: **891**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x08**  
AU 4x08  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

Andy feels Nick's hand grip hers on the console, their fingers intertwining as the bridal march plays through the speaker of her phone. She smiles down at them momentarily, before looking up to him when the speaking begins.

"I actually wish we were there," Nick says suddenly, looking up to meet her eyes.  
"Me too."  
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be than here thought, just you and me, sitting here, doing what we do."

He returns her smile, and feeling the blush creep up her cheeks, she looks away and curses him for having such an effect on her. There's a quiet chuckle from beside her, and Andy knows that despite the darkness, he knows exactly what effect he's having on her.

Andy sniffs, hearing Frank's vows, and smiles, "It gets me every time, and I don't know why! You know, I know the words like the back of my hand, but somehow, I don't know, they just get more magical. You know, every time I hear them."  
"That's how I feel about you."  
"What, that my words get more magical?" she jokes, smiling and turning to face him again.  
"No," he shakes his head, "That you do. It's crazy right?"

Nick doesn't look at her, but he lifts her hand from between them, and presses his lips to her bent fingers. There's a small smile on his face, and he looks at her, holding her hand where it is.

"I love you, you know that right? And you drive me crazy, but you're amazing, Andy McNally," he tells her, kissing her fingers again, "I love you, despite the fact that you take up 90% of my wardrobe and leave your towels on the ground. And every time I wake up, you're just more magical than the day before, and it's breath-taking."

She smiles, opening her mouth to reply when there's a knock on her car window. She feels both her and Nick's hands drop to his lap as she turns to look out it. Using her free hand to open the door they both look up at the construction worker.

"Sorry to interrupt, just wanted to let you know he's on his way down."

Andy nods, murmuring a thank you before looking back at Nick. He let's go of her hand and pushes his own door open. She exits the car and shuts the door behind her, making her way around to stand beside her partner and look up at the man making his way down.

"Jameson Ward," she calls, getting his attention close to the bottom of the ladder, "I'm Officer McNally, this is Officer Collins."  
"Can you tell us where you were this morning? Approximately ten-thirty-am?"  
The man in question frowns, "What's this about? What's going on?"  
"Well, there was a bus robbery at that time, and we were-"

Nick stops, and Andy hears a sigh escape him as they watch their suspect make his way back up the ladder in an attempt to escape.

"No! We just want-we just want to talk to you for a few more minutes!" Andy yells after him, "Come on, come back down here! Jameson Ward, you are under arrest for, evading arrest!"  
Nick chuckles, "That's a good one."  
"I don't know," she sighs dejectedly.  
"So what do you think?" he asks, gesturing up to their suspect moving along the top of the tower.  
"I mean, where is he gonna go right?"  
"Do you want to go after him? I'm game if you want to."  
Andy shakes her head, "No, what's the point?"

She turns, moving to the hood of the car as Nick calls it in to dispatch. Leaning against it, she smiles at him as he passes her to sit on her right. The moment he's on the hood, his hand claims hers and rests it on his thigh.

Looking down, she smiles at the gesture, "So what do we do now?"  
"I don't know" he shrugs.  
"I mean it's crazy, right, because I love you too," Andy confesses, looking up from their joined hands to find him staring at her, "That's what you said."

Nick smiles, shaking his head slightly and raising his free hand to cup her cheek softly.

"What happens now?" she repeats her earlier question, leaning into his touch.  
"We do what we always do," he murmurs, leaning in closer until his lips graze hers, "Because nothing's changed McNally."

Andy nods, leaning her forehead against his and closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath in, a smile grows on her face, realizing that the tension that had been growing within her at the thought of telling him was gone.

"When backup gets here," Nick whispers, kissing her softly every few words, "You and I are going to Noelle and Frank's reception, and I'm going to buy you a drink."  
She laughs, opening her eyes and pulling away, "It's open bar, dumbo."  
"Shh, I haven't finished my plan yet."  
"Okay, continue," Andy smiles.  
"Then, you and I are going to go back to my place, and there may be left over chocolate cake from your baking expedition last weekend."  
"Oh you're speaking my language, Nick Collins."

There's a small chuckle, and he winks, running his thumb under her eye softly before pulling away.

"Now one thing," Andy says.  
"Yes McNally?"  
"Do I have to share the cake?"

…

_/hyperventilates-because-they-said-it_

_I've been looking forward to writing this for so long. They give me fuzzy feels!_

_So I did intend on posting a one-shot the day after posting the last chapter of this – celebrating 4 years on ffnet and all that – and then did shit hit the fan. Like seriously._

_But on the plus side, I have finished writing this story. I may write like a little epilogue or whatever to make up for the fact that I plan on cutting 4x10 out completely, but this one is finished and I think I'm already half-way through the saga for episode 11-13. I did say I would plan, but honestly, when does planning ever work out for me? (Hint, never)_

_Thank you!_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


	14. Chapter 14

**Everything Else.  
Words: **463**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x09**  
AU 4x09  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

"So Chris and Denise are coming to town," Andy says casually, her fingertip curling over the top of Nick's newspaper and pulling it down so she can see him over the top of it.  
"Yes, _and_?"  
"Well I offered to look after Christian, to give them time to settle in."  
"_And?_"

He looks up, meeting her unimpressed stare. Nick Collins knew exactly what she was insinuating, but now in the habit of trying to make the woman use her 'big-kid' words, he wasn't going to let her get away with him agreeing to something she actually hasn't told him about. Like a big kid.

"Will you come with me?" she asks, rolling her eyes, "I was going to take him to the park, and the maybe for some breakfast afterwards."  
"Sounds great."  
Andy lets out a huffed breath, "Will you come with me?" she repeats, "Please?"  
"I would be honored to join you," he smiles, pulling the newspaper away from her crooked finger, closing it and setting it neatly on the kitchen bench.

Andy smiles, it reaches her eyes and shows him a full set of teeth. She leans across the bench and plants both hands on his face to kiss him. Her lips smack loudly as she pulls away, and leaves him where he's sitting, off to the bathroom to get ready for their shift.

"I'm dating a child," Nick murmurs to himself, standing up and following after her without hesitation.

…

Andy can feel her hands shaking, sitting on the chair outside the D's office, waiting for Sam Swarek to call her inside. They were trembling in her lap, and she tried her hardest to keep them still.

"Andy," Nick whispers, turning to face her, head ducked down, "Andy, look at me."

She looks up, her hands still shaking between her knees. He notices, and reaches for them, holding them both tightly between his own.

"I left Christian, and now we-"  
"No," he tells her firmly, "Andy, it is not your fault. It is not our fault. Remember that. No matter what Swarek says when you go in there."  
"But I-"  
"No. It is not your fault."  
"_Nick_."  
He shakes his head, "Say it. _It is not my fault_."

Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes. Her hands have stopped shaking, only slight tremors every few seconds.

"It's not my fault," she whispers.  
"McNally," Swarek's voice calls from inside.  
"It's not your fault," Nick repeats, dropping one of her hands, but lifting the other to press a kiss on her palm.

Andy nods slightly, forcefully evening out her breathing, she meets his eyes and smiles sadly. As she stands, he drops her hand, and she walks into the office.

_It's not my fault_, she repeats to herself. _Not my fault_.

…

_Ugh. This episode was poop. Rewatching the 'interrogation' scene between Sam and Andy made me angry. And then Marlo? My little angel._

_Oh and I apologize profusely. First year 12 began kicking my ass, a heap of family and health stuff, and then the laptop keyboard stops working so I'm scrambling for the use of a blutooth one when my brother doesn't notice it's missing. Only three more months until exams, and then everything should be back to normal._

_Hopefully._

_This is the second last chapter – I've begun writing and planning for a sequel to this – and I'm uploading the next chapter right now to make up for my utter laziness._

_Until then my dears!_


	15. Chapter 15

**Everything Else.  
Words: **1146**  
Couple: **Andy McNally and Nick Collins.**  
TV Show: **Rookie Blue.**  
Disclaimer: **All characters you recognize do not belong to me. Direct quotes used are from 4x09**  
AU 4x09  
Established Andy/Nick.**

…

For a moment, the phones stop ringing, and Andy has a time to breathe. Her hands a flat against the desk and her eyes are closed, and the only thing she can focus on is taking a breath in before breathing out. She repeats for a few moments, breathing in, then breathing out, and only stops counting the breaths when she feels a hand on her arm. Opening her eyes, looking over her shoulder, she finds Nick Collins, one hand on her, the other holding out a take-away coffee cup to her.

"Thanks," she murmurs, lifting a hand from the table to accept it, turning away from him to take a sip and looking back at the notepad in front of her.  
"Welcome," she hears him sit down and roll the chair to sit next to her, "Anything yet?"  
"Nothing worth pursuing, a couple that sounded viable but they just led back to fathers with their kids at the park."  
"Something will come up eventually."

Andy shrugs, and leans into the hand that he places on her back. His arm snakes around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him, and he presses a kiss to her temple. Letting out a breath, Andy's eyes close again as she leans into him.

"This is shit," she tells him, "This shouldn't have happened."  
"We're going to find him."

Nodding against him, Andy sighs when she hears the phone on the desk in front of her ring. Opening her eyes, she watches Nick reach out with his free hand to answer the phone as she sits up.

"15 Division."

When Nick asks the person on the other end of the line what time that was, Andy looks up from the desk phone to her partner's face. He turns to her with a smile on his face, and Andy feels something in her spring up with hope.

…

He's leaning against her apartment door when she gets home, back in his clothes from the morning, and rubbing his hand over tired eyes.

"Hey," she smiles, stopping in front of him as he stands up straight, "What's going on?"  
"I just wanted to check up on you, make sure you're alright," Nick explains, "You left pretty quickly when it was over."  
"I've had better days, so have you."  
"That we have," he agrees, turning to face her as she moves to the lock of her door.  
Andy fiddles with her keys for a moment, "You coming in? There are left overs in the fridge."  
"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go out instead."

Frowning, Andy looks up at him. He's watching her, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly in a shy smile, and his hands are tucked into his pockets.

"There's something I wanted to show you. Not too far from here," Nick tells her, shrugging, "Just a short walk then we can come back and eat left-overs, I promise."

Andy looks down at her keys, contemplating telling him it can wait until the morning. She's beyond exhausted at this point, emotionally and physically, and a glass of wine and leftover take-out is looking so much more appealing than his offer to on a walk. But she goes to decline and stops herself.

He is so incredibly nervous. The kind of nervousness that is radiating off of him similar to the night of Noelle and Frank's wedding, and she's drawn to it. Nodding, slipping her keys back into her pocket and holding her hand towards him Andy decides that it's the nervousness that always end in something big. And as much she dislikes surprises, there's nothing to lose.

…

They've reached the end of her street and turned right, a cool breeze following them as street lights turn on and the sun sets. Andy has tucked herself into his side securely, a hand gripping his bicep and her head resting on his shoulder. As they walk, he's telling her about a run that he went on a few weeks ago without her.

They'd worked different shifts for a couple of days, and she had come home early in the morning and gone straight to bed. Her coming home had woken him, and having a few hours to go until he had to meet Traci Nash for a stake-out, he'd decided to explore the neighborhood. As they're turning into a small court, he tells her about a house, and that alone has her frowning and lifting her head off his shoulder to look at him.

"It's got two bedrooms, two bathrooms," he says simply, stopping them at the end of a driveway, "One bedroom upstairs the other downstairs, a study as well, along with a recently re-done kitchen and an alright-sized backyard."  
Andy's frown deepens, cocking her head to the side, "Nick, why are you telling me this."  
"Because I don't know about you, but I think it's a bit of a waste for us to be paying rent separately when we have literally not spent more than a week apart in the last 7 and a half months. Not including those first three months before we started dating."

The frown disappears, and before she can stop herself she's laughing. Bent over, gripping his arm for support and holding a hand to her mouth, Andy can barely stop for long enough to ask if he was being serious.

She hears a chuckle escape him as well before he continues, "It's a rental with the option to buy after the lease is up. So don't think I'm trying to trap you or anything, I'm just proposing an option."

Slowly, her laughing ceases, replaced with deep-breathing and a large grin threatening to split her face in two.

"Andy?" he prompts, nudging her side and looking away from the house and at her, "You know you gotta say something, right?"

Andy turns to face him, a breathless laugh leaving her before she throws herself at him, arms looping around his waist and her face buried into his neck. She throws him off-centre slightly, and it takes Nick a moment to reciprocate the hug.

"I love you so much right now, you know that?" she asks him, lips dangerously close to his ear.  
"Well I would imagine so with the fact you just nearly barreled me over," Nick jokes as she releases him and moves her hands to cup both of his cheeks.  
"When can we move in?"  
"Well, when can we start packing?"

Smile not wavering, Andy kisses him. Short, chaste, and ending with her having to pull away to start laughing again. She watches him pull two things from his back pocket. First her phone, which she accepts with a shake of her head, and a key. Nick gestures in the direction of the house, waving the key in between them with a smile.

"Want to go take a look?"  
"Absolutely."

…

_I had to do a lot of guessing with the time-frame in this one._

_This story was based on the idea that they started hooking up around the 3__rd__ month, just before they went to Niagara Falls (See '6 Months' story for that one there) and that they've been together since then._

_So assuming there is no more than two weeks between the episodes events – and giving room for movement for episode that were not too long after the other (such as episode 1 to 2) after Dakota their relationship has continued for about 4 and a half months._

_So that means they've been practically spending all of their time together for the last 10 or so months, and dating for the last 7 or so. If it doesn't make sense someone will have to show me other options and I can rewrite and such, but the math kind of works._

_Kind of._

_This is where I leave you!_

_Unless of course I find something that fits here. Because after a thorough rewatch of episode 10 I've decided that since the main thing with the episode was to tell Gail about the relationship, it's kind of redundant. We've established the she already knows and on some level has gotten over it, for the sake of my need for McCollins, so the episode is not really needed for this to flow into the saga of the next three episodes. SO episode 10 is not being touched, and the next part of this adventure is moving straight on to deal with the mess of the next few episodes._

_And guess what, I've nearly finished writing it!_

_Currently re-writing last half of 4x13 and it's nearly done, so maybe I'll have no excuse for being a shit updater then, huh? (lolno)_

_Thank you for reading/reviewing/favouriting/following this story (even the reviews that were uncalled for. Looking at you anonymous McSwarek ranter. I get it, believe me) And for sticking through my horrible attempts at a strict posting routine (what strict posting routine?)_

_All mistakes are mine._

_Review?_


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